Toilet Terror part 2 of 2

We rushed towards Mahesh and checked if he was breathing. He was not. We checked his pulses. We found none. Having no clue what to do, we abandoned him and rushed back to our rooms. We had just killed our roommate. After a lot of panic and blame game, we decided that we won’t let it spoil our future. We switched off the lights, closed the door (without bolting it) and decided to act ignorant of the happenings.

Around an hour later, we heard a loud yell from the bathroom. Though we understood that someone had seen Mahesh lying dead, we didn't bother to react. We continued to act asleep, until we were 'woken up' by a group of boys who barged into our room. A million questions were asked, but all we had to offer was tears and the reply "i don't know". There were some investigations in our college, and a lot of people were questioned. As expected, we roommmates had to answer a thousand questions, which we somehow managed. "We went for dinner, saw a film and went to sleep. No idea what happened after that" was the crux of what we said. The issue got bigger than we expected, as Mahesh's parents wanted to know if it was suicide and asked for a post mortem report. Luckily for us, the post mortem report certified that Mahesh died to to a heart attack. None of them knew that it was caused by us.

The next few days were difficult, for we were internally engulfed with a terrible feeling of guilt. We missed Mahesh and were reminded of all the good memories we shared, especially in class and the hostel room. Every time we went to the toilet, dreadful memories of that night kept haunting us. Three weeks and an awful time later, we found a way out of this sick feeling. We decided to approach Amudhan, our classmate. Better known as Aavi Amudhan, he was extremely famous in our hostel, as he claimed to have powers to speak to spirits of dead people. (Yes, there are all kinds of people in an engineering college hostel!). Some believed he could, some didn’t. It was time for us to find out. I HAD to speak to Mahesh and convey my apologies.

“Amudhan, we heard you can speak to spirits, and are here to talk to you about a very important issue. But before that, I hope and trust you will promise confidentiality, for it is extremely serious and sensitive.” I said

“About Mahesh’s death? Don’t worry. It will not leave this room. Go on.”

“We killed Mahesh..” and we went on to tell Amudhan about the happenings of that night. After half an hour of explanation, Amudhan came up with his reply.

“Ok. I understand. Don’t blame yourselves. After all, you didn’t intend to kill him. Now coming to the issue, it is not easy to speak to spirits. It is a tough art, and there are various complications. First of all, you need to have a strong heart and reason to bring a sprit to you and make it talk. They do not come as per your wishes. Secondly and more importantly, spirits usually come in groups. You may want to speak to Mahesh’s spirits, but another spirit, who probably has some unfulfilled dreams, may take advantage and use you to satisfy their needs. That can turn extremely dangerous, if not properly monitored. But don’t worry. I will speak to Mahesh and get back to you. I am sure he will understand and accept your apologies. And I promise; this will remain within these 4 walls.”

Amudhan’s words were reassuring. We may not get to speak to Mahesh directly (which was frankly scary), but all we wanted to do was convey the apologies. Two days of extreme anxiety passed, before Amudhan called us to his room at midnight. We rushed there, without knowing how to feel. The entire room had a spooky feel to it. The room was lit up by a dim light. Amudhan was sitting in the centre of the room, wearing just a dhoti. In front of him was a rectangle kind of board, which looked like a chess board. Closer examination showed a coin in the middle of the board and random words like YES, NO, GO and COME were written on the rectangle.

“I have some good news and some bad news for you” Amudhan broke the silence. “The good news is that Mahesh is willing to forgive you. He realizes it was a prank, though it cost him his life. After all, he was your roommate, won’t he even understand that?”
We were a bit relieved. We were happy to know that we would be forgiven. But Amudhan was not finished.
“The bad news is that Mahesh has given a condition. A very weird one too.”

“What is it?”

“Whenever you are inside the college premises and want to use the toilet, especially inside the hostel, you 3 should always go together. You can’t go alone, or even in pairs among youselves”

“WHAT?!” we shouted in unison. It was the craziest thing we had ever heard in our lives. It made us lose our respect for spirits and ghosts. What a stupid, crazy and cheap condition!

“Mahesh’s spirits will always be around the toilet. If any one of you go alone, he will do exactly what you did to him. Imagine a ghost making a sudden appearance when you are having your moment of privacy.. it will be terrible! So stick together till we finish college. Raghu, I want to warn you especially. Mahesh knows that it was your plan, and he sounded a bit angry with you. So you, in particular should be very careful.” Amudhan's voice echoed in our ears as we walked out.

At first thought, meeting the crazy condition seemed no big deal. After all, we were roommates and we were anyways going to be together. “Just eat, sleep and drink together.” was our simple plan. But as the days passed, we realized that it was extremely difficult to do everything together, but somehow managed to fulfil the main condition – we were always together in the loo. It was not an easy thing to do though. Often, after eating excessively at the terrible hostel mess, there would be a mad rush for the toilet. It was almost impossible to find 3 vacant toilets, but we were left with no choice. Other students looked at us with suspicion, for we would often shout from inside to find out if the others were done and it was safe to leave.

Aditya, in particular, caused a lot of problems, for his kidneys followed strange and inhuman timings. He would often wake us up late in the night with his usual lines “Machi.. toilet da.” It annoyed us so much that we got him a box full of huggies as a birthday gift. He obviously didn't use them.

If Aditya’s unruly bladders were irritating, Avinash had a crazier problem.
“Machis. Wake up wake up. Come with me to the toilet.” he would say.

“Dey please control da. I'm half asleep.. bugger I asked you not to drink so much water before you sleep.”

“No da, not that.. I just saw a Shakeela film.. have to go to the toilet machaa.. understand!”

We didn’t know if the together-toiler rule was applicable for that, but we obviously didn’t want to risk it. We couldn’t ask Avinash to control that either, as we could be facing the same situation sometime. It was a bit too irritating, but we were getting used to it. We had no choice.

Similar problems continued at the classroom as well, which led us to be infamously called “The Toilet-Threesome”! Despite all this, we were just happy to survive. Days became weeks, which in turn became months. We somehow managed to stay alive till the end of the college, until the farewell night.

It was the end of 4 years of college. The first 3 years were extremely enjoyable. The final year started well too, until a stupid prank which ended Mahesh’s life and our happiness. But he too had forgiven us and it now time to enjoy. The boys in the hostel had arranged for a midnight sarakku (drinks) party in the hostel terrace, after the farewell celebrations. The farewell events and dinner completed by around 11 30 PM, and most of the gang, including guys who don’t drink left for the hostel terrace. One peg was followed by another, and soon we were high and crapping about various incidents, which mostly had to do with failed love stories. Since it was the last day, most guys drank much beyond their capacity, and even the teetotallers started making their debuts. Soon, we ran out of alcohol. I was a bit less drunk than most others, so I was asked to go down to the rooms to get some more bottles. I gladly agreed, and rushed down to my room to pick up the back-up bottles. But just when I was about to leave, I had this sudden full feeling in my bladder. I had to rush to the toilet, but how could I? Not knowing what to do, I stood in the deserted corridor and took my mobile phone to ring my roommates, when I saw Aavi Amudhan coming towards me.

“What are you doing here? Everyone is waiting for the bottles” he said.

“Machaan. I have to go to the toilet da..”

“The go! Why are you standing outside? Don’t waste time. Everyone is waiting!”

“What are you saying da? Did you forget the condition? How can I go?”

Amudhan paused and stared at me for a moment. Then he burst into uncontrollable laughter. I had no idea why. “Dey. Why are you laughing?”

Amudhan gathered his senses.

“Hahahaha! I can’t believe you guys trusted me for such a long time da. You played a prank on Mahesh. I played a prank on you! I can’t believe you guys actually trusted I can speak to spirits..hahahaha. Now give me the bottles, go to the toilet and join us up soon. Bye bye!” and Amudhan left, laughing his way upstairs.

I felt embarrassed, but the prank brought a smile to my face. More than that, I was relieved, for I could use the toilet now! I rushed in, whistling to the tunes of ‘Aanandham.. imayam pola aanandham’ and rang up Aditya.

“Machi.. guess where I am?!” I asked.

“Otha! Bring the bottles soon.” Came the reply.

“Haha, patience patience. The bottle is on its way up. I am in the toilet. Amudhan is bringing the bottle. Did you know? It was all a prank by Amudhan. The conditions, the forgiving, everything! Why, that fucker can’t even speak to spirits! He played a prank on us, but I must say it was a good one!” I explained.

“But what do you mean da? Amudhan has been with me throughout the night. He is still sitting next to me...” said Aditya.

And the lights went off.

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